Mandabi

AroView: The first significant film to be made in an African language (Wolof), directed by the ‘father of African cinema’, Ousmane Sembène.

The title translates to ‘money order’, which becomes the source of great hope for a poor but stubbornly proud man and his two wives, yet it turns out to be the root of all evil when his attempts to cash it become the business of everyone in the village. It’s a tragicomedy of post-colonial dysfunction and a rally cry against an endemic corruption borne of capitalism and poverty. And as a window into Senegalese life in the 60’s, it is a treasure.

“As a comedy dealing with life’s miseries, it displays a controlled sophistication in the telling that gives it a feeling of almost classic directness and simplicity.” ~The New York Times